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Post by woodiedog on Sept 23, 2020 0:32:06 GMT
I still love TY. ❤️❤️
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Post by Bearcata on Sept 23, 2020 12:25:54 GMT
Windy City Rehab - Season 2 Episode 2 - "Bridgeport or Bust" - September 22, 2020 Another black house. This time it looks ugly. I don't mind the black, but the all black brick wall, with the black light fixtures, with the matte black door, and black columns on the front porch, no, not a fan.
Liked the lot and garage and pathway.
The renovation budget was set at $400,000 and ended up being $515,000. Going over $115,000 is a bit much. But is sold for a profit of $15,000.
Seems like there is no communication between Donovan and Alison.
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Post by waywyrd on Sept 23, 2020 15:39:57 GMT
I watched Windy City out of boredom last night, and wow, I hated all that black on the face of the house. It didn't look "sexy" as she put it, it looked dreary and ugly. I liked the original, old brick color.
Kitchen was okay, bathrooms were really pretty...I don't know about the putting green in the back, if that's your entire yard, do you want it as a putting green?
Donovan whining in the beginning about not wanting to do $800,000 houses because they weren't worth it made me roll my eyes.
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Post by Bearcata on Sept 23, 2020 22:01:03 GMT
I watched Windy City out of boredom last night, and wow, I hated all that black on the face of the house. It didn't look "sexy" as she put it, it looked dreary and ugly. I liked the original, old brick color. Kitchen was okay, bathrooms were really pretty...I don't know about the putting green in the back, if that's your entire yard, do you want it as a putting green? Donovan whining in the beginning about not wanting to do $800,000 houses because they weren't worth it made me roll my eyes. I am up to the part in the episode where Alison brags how well she can stick to a budget. HA HA HA!! Going $115,000 over is not sticking to your budget.
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Post by Bearcata on Sept 26, 2020 18:13:56 GMT
I watched Windy City out of boredom last night, and wow, I hated all that black on the face of the house. It didn't look "sexy" as she put it, it looked dreary and ugly. I liked the original, old brick color. Kitchen was okay, bathrooms were really pretty...I don't know about the putting green in the back, if that's your entire yard, do you want it as a putting green? Donovan whining in the beginning about not wanting to do $800,000 houses because they weren't worth it made me roll my eyes. I am up to the part in the episode where Alison brags how well she can stick to a budget. HA HA HA!! Going $115,000 over is not sticking to your budget. I was OK with the front brick facade painted black I would have been nice and add depth if the stone lentils under the windows were a shiny black vs the matte black. However the door would have looked better if it was unpainted wood to contrast with the all black on black look or if it had to be black a shiny black like the door posts. It looked unfinished or as if the designer didn't think the design through.
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Post by Kao on Sept 26, 2020 23:25:44 GMT
After watching this week's Windy City Rehab I was extremely disgusted with Donovan, and for good reason.
To understand why, I need to explain some things. Since forever, there's been a rivalry between the North and South sides of Chicago. This is especially evident if you go to any of the "Cubs vs. White Sox" crosstown games. The North Side has a reputation for having more professional, White-collar, well-heeled people and upwardly mobile immigrants living there, while the South Side is more Blue-Collar, "salt of the earth" type people. It also has more people from the old countries here, as well as a sizable African American population. Southsiders tend to think of Northsiders as elitist and stuck up, while Northsiders think...all sorts of ugly things about Southsiders. I live in a neighborhood close to Bridgeport, and while Bridgeport has its issues (up into 20 years ago when Chinese and Latino people integrated it because Chinatown is small and Pilsen got really trendy and unaffordable to a lot of people it had a HUGE problem with racism) a lot of artists have moved there who got priced out of Pilsen and it's eclectic, yet still a blue-collar community still affordable to families starting out with their first home that has reasonable public transportation.
The more I watch this show, the more I see that Alison genuinely enjoys creating beauty with old houses, and saw working in Bridgeport as an opportunity to break into a new market and to experiment with doing her normal style on a budget to fit the neighborhood. Donovan's attitude was...pure crap from the very beginning, and made me look at him in a different way. I can understand being used to working in neighborhoods that will give you a big payday but he was particularly nasty about working on the Southside in general and especially Bridgeport, because he said everything except that the neighborhood was "too low rent" for him. His attitude was a typical North Sider reaction to everything on the Southside, and was really gross. I was really glad that Alison bought him out of that project and created something cute with her own team that was appropriate for the age of the house. I loved the fireplace mantel and front door furniture she bought as well as the stained glass window with the address inside. Using the "under the stairs" area as a built in pantry and bar was a good use of the space. It also didn't surprise me that it sold in 5 days because there are a lot of people who grew up on the Southside who are upwardly mobile now who want to stay close to their family, yet have a beautiful, rehabbed home.
I also noticed that of all the houses that got stop work/court orders on them the Carpenter Street property wasn't on the list, and it's the only property that Alison handled with her own team without Donovan. Hmmm...
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Post by MFWalkoff on Sept 29, 2020 2:57:52 GMT
Tonight's new Love It Or List It must have been filmed right when the quarantines began. In the beginning, Hillary and David did the usual review with the couple in person, but then David showed them houses via webcam. The couple walked thru the rooms with a camera while he was at his laptop at home. Hillary and the crew worked on the house, but the final reveal at the end was done remotely as well.
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Post by Kao on Sept 30, 2020 2:36:42 GMT
Yeah, after watching Windy City tonight Alison needs to ditch Donovan. He is the common link in all the stop work orders, and tonight when they were talking to the guy about the structure of the house and what was needed I got the impression he totally wanted to cheap out and would have if Alison had not stopped him.
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Post by waywyrd on Sept 30, 2020 11:32:19 GMT
Agreed. She needs to cut Donovan, too much shady stuff going on with him. I never did like him much anyway.
The house looked quite nice when she finally did get to finish it, the white exterior with black trim was gorgeous. The only thing I didn't care for was those huge pendant lights she put in the kitchen, they looked clunky.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 4, 2020 1:27:48 GMT
Windy City Rehab - Season 2 Episode 3 - "Going Big on Berenice" - September 29, 2020 In season 1 of Windy City Rehab, Alison Victoria came across or was edited rather harshly and appeared money hungry and had a big ego in regards of her design style and how buyers would recognize and paid lots of money for it. I don't think that went down very well with the audience. There were also little issues of the neighbors complaining about the construction noise and mess of the rehab and then of course all the newspaper articles and the lawsuits. I was planning to continue watching season 2 and it was interesting that HGTV did not cancel the show. Kitchen Cousins had a lawsuit that involved a remodeling job not shown as part of any of their on air projects and BAM! that's the last we saw or hear of the Kitchen Cousins. I think they even lost their business. So why did HGTV stand by this show? They have canceled several shows when there was a hint of scandal.
It is interesting that after 3 episodes Donavan, Alison's partner is being painted with a very large negative brush. Is it deserved or is HGTV slanting the story to save Alison? I do like the Kitchen Crashers episodes that air after Windy City Rehab, Alison comes across very nice in those episodes and I am very impressed with the kitchens.
I have liked the three episodes so far and find it interesting how the story of what happened is being revealed. I find that Alison is a very positive, determined person and when she has a good team of people she trusts there is a very good team/group vibe. I do think on occasion she could be a difficult person to get along with. I like that they are showing the personalities of the other workers instead of the grating of Donovan vs Alison, sensible budget conscious contractor pulling the reins of the crazy spend all kinds of money designer. Alison speaks well and presents herself well and she describes what is gong on very well for the viewing audience.
Overall I liked what the team did with the Berenice house and I am SO GLAD that Alison departed from her ALL BLACK theme. The hardy board looked great. I liked the front door. I didn't like that weird off proportion arch in the front porch roof. It didn't look good. Again she keeps the finishes simple, she does not mix up her tile but goes from floor to ceiling in the bathrooms and her bathrooms are elegant and I like them and they look good. I did like the mantle she put over the kitchen stove area. That was a nice change and I do like that it was a piece of wood from the house. Nice to see them rebuild the garage. Interesting to note that she only did a partial basement remodel.
I know Alison does not like to be the project manager/general contractor and that is why she had Donovan as a partner. However I do like that she is determined to pull herself out of this mess. For a seasoned professional it is eye opening that she found herself in this situation. Lesson learned, even if you don't like the money part you still need to go over the spreadsheets and know what the status of your business is. Interesting that she had to spend money on lawyers to get some of these properties into her name only. I am sure she had to pay Donovan some money and I am sure that did not go over well. It looks as if Alison is digging herself out of this mess.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 4, 2020 2:01:11 GMT
Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa this week was a disaster. Couple that never flipped a house before buy a 1.3 million dollar property plan to spend $120,000 and then the husband makes himself the general contractor with out having any GC experience and they want to move the kitchen and expand the new kitchen wall out. We all know this is going to be so successful. To be honest the idiots deserve the mess they got themselves in.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 4, 2020 14:17:33 GMT
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 5, 2020 21:46:01 GMT
Yeah, after watching Windy City tonight Alison needs to ditch Donovan. He is the common link in all the stop work orders, and tonight when they were talking to the guy about the structure of the house and what was needed I got the impression he totally wanted to cheap out and would have if Alison had not stopped him. Well even Alison stated that 20 of the Stop Work Orders were from projects before their partnership. I do think Alison needs a forensic accountant to go over the books, Donovan is shifting money all over the place.
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Post by Kao on Oct 5, 2020 21:48:30 GMT
20 stop work orders? I was going by the projects listed in the Chicago Tribune article I read and all of those were donovan/Alison projects. I didn't realize there were more.
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Post by waywyrd on Oct 5, 2020 21:59:20 GMT
Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa this week was a disaster. Couple that never flipped a house before buy a 1.3 million dollar property plan to spend $120,000 and then the husband makes himself the general contractor with out having any GC experience and they want to move the kitchen and expand the new kitchen wall out. We all know this is going to be so successful. To be honest the idiots deserve the mess they got themselves in. I just watched this one, and WOW those two were stupid. They had no business trying to play GC, there was no need to move that kitchen...it sounded like she was trying to build a palace instead of making necessary updates and getting out of there. They had to have lost a ton of money on that mess. I could have bought a house just with the interest they paid on that hard money loan. Stupid.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 6, 2020 22:02:31 GMT
Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa this week was a disaster. Couple that never flipped a house before buy a 1.3 million dollar property plan to spend $120,000 and then the husband makes himself the general contractor with out having any GC experience and they want to move the kitchen and expand the new kitchen wall out. We all know this is going to be so successful. To be honest the idiots deserve the mess they got themselves in. I just watched this one, and WOW those two were stupid. They had no business trying to play GC, there was no need to move that kitchen...it sounded like she was trying to build a palace instead of making necessary updates and getting out of there. They had to have lost a ton of money on that mess. I could have bought a house just with the interest they paid on that hard money loan. Stupid. I always luv it when Tarek makes a suggestion and the newbies do the exact opposite. He is a licensed realtor and does flipping as a profession. At the level he and Christina are at they have a team of people behind them. I personally would never buy from any of his students.
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Post by waywyrd on Oct 7, 2020 23:44:49 GMT
Windy City Rehab - wow, looks like Donovan was being extremely sketchy. Was he pocketing all that money? I don't blame Alison for being pissed, it sounds like he took advantage. Don't think we'll be seeing him again...
I'm not a condo person but it turned out beautifully. I wonder if it ever sold?
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 8, 2020 2:15:16 GMT
Windy City Rehab - wow, looks like Donovan was being extremely sketchy. Was he pocketing all that money? I don't blame Alison for being pissed, it sounds like he took advantage. Don't think we'll be seeing him again... I'm not a condo person but it turned out beautifully. I wonder if it ever sold? If Donovan had paid the subs, and done the work right he could have continued to collect money under general conditions and for BE Design and Alison would not have been the wiser as she was not looking at the money. Sounds like he got a bit greedy.
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Post by Kao on Oct 8, 2020 16:29:02 GMT
From the sounds of it he was paying himself right off the top (instead of taking his cut after the property is sold) AND skimming, and since he was in charge of hiring the subcontractors and other trades Alison would have been none the wiser until she had an accountant go over the books. She should have been doing that from the beginning because it just makes business sense, considering the amount of fraud that goes on in that line of business. She got had, unfortunately, and the fact that she considered him a friend makes it worse. Now his nastiness about working smaller jobs like the one in Bridgeport makes more sense; you can't skim off as much money, and if you do...it's more noticeable.
I looked for the condo building on Delaware that was featured last night and there's a few it could be, lol. The Gold Coast neighborhood has either high-rises or beautiful Victorians, row houses, and mansions built after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871; it's a wonderful historic district very close to the Mag Mile (Michigan Avenue) for shopping and the Oak Street Beach off Lake Michigan.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 8, 2020 19:34:04 GMT
Windy City Rehab - Season 2 Episode 4 - "Gold Coast Gold" - October 6, 2020 It is fun to watch Alison and her team evaluate and design and build a project. I do enjoy her Kitchen Crashers episodes after the Windy City Rehab episodes as she has a lot more range and is more creative in those KC episodes than the WCR episodes. Yes, we all know she is going to paint or stain any antique piece she gets black. I did like how in this episode Alison does describe her creative process and how she gets inspired. Also luv'ed the walk through and the little competition between Ermin and Donovan trying to save teh back splash tiles.
Alison and Donovan look incredibly busy and makes it hard to track everything and that leaves a perform storm situation for one partner to hide stuff. It was interesting to see how Alison was going line by line trying to figure out who got paid. I do like how she got some evidence before she met with Donovan to discuss the issue and again she is not blowing up at him she is asking him what the heck is going on and not getting any answers. Now everyone has their own moral line in the sand and how they do business. Alison was very clear she pays herself with the profit she earns from a project. Alison and Donovan split the profit or loss from any project they do together. When it was pointed out that Donovan was paying himself during the project under the line item "general conditions", that could be his common business practice. I don't think it was being sneaky or lying or cheating (benefit of a doubt here) if this is what he does on all his projects. This is the where the question of where is your moral line comes in. He is doing business one way Alison another. He can be accused of double dipping but this particular situation you can read either way. But then the account manager found other line items and this is where is becomes tricky and suspicious. The money paid to BE Custom Design. For what? Donovan couldn't explain that. Is it all editing? Then the issue of not paying subcontractors, not paying property taxes, not getting building permits. It snowballs to a lot of bad business practices and looks very very very shady. I know folks on Reddit think this is all fake reality tv and that Alison must have know and she should have split with Donovan sooner. It is not that simple folks. She is doing her due diligence. She is his partner and in the eyes of the law responsible. Neither she nor Donovan can simply walk away from loan contracts and other legal vehicles they have signed. It does look as if this partnership will bankrupt Alison as her Bucktown home is up for sale. I do think she will recover but she has taken a huge hit and she has experience in the real estate arena.
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Post by Kao on Oct 10, 2020 1:40:30 GMT
Reddit is a mess; it can't all be "fake reality TV" when folks are getting sued over it. Also, the couple who are suing Alison over the shoddy job done on their house are suing again to block Alison from selling her house; they are claiming that she wants to liquidate her assets and hide her money. Interesting how they are just suing Alison; I think that since she is the "face" of WCR they are assuming that HGTV pays her a wad of money. Hmmm...
I have to say I'm really enjoying Selling the Big Easy (even though it's like "House Hunters....but with upscale NOLA properties!"). The host is a delight, and I absolutely love the diversity and beauty of the housing stock that is seen on the show. I know she caters to a more upscale market but the details in these older houses (and the differences in the "French" style in the French Quarter and the "American" style in the Garden District) are wonderful. Considering how so many shows on HGTV cater to the suburban market it's really nice to see shows with a city locale because we watch HGTV too! That's why I will continue to support this show along with Windy City Rehab.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 10, 2020 3:59:41 GMT
Reddit is a mess; it can't all be "fake reality TV" when folks are getting sued over it. Also, the couple who are suing Alison over the shoddy job done on their house are suing again to block Alison from selling her house; they are claiming that she wants to liquidate her assets and hide her money. Interesting how they are just suing Alison; I think that since she is the "face" of WCR they are assuming that HGTV pays her a wad of money. Hmmm... I have to say I'm really enjoying Selling the Big Easy (even though it's like "House Hunters....but with upscale NOLA properties!"). The host is a delight, and I absolutely love the diversity and beauty of the housing stock that is seen on the show. I know she caters to a more upscale market but the details in the houses are wonderful. Considering how so many shows on HGTV cater to the suburban market it's really nice to see shows with a city locale because we watch HGTV too! That's why I will continue to support this show along with Windy City Rehab. I think Alison is trying to support her business the constant suing and legal fees are not helping. Seriously folks who can afford 1 million dollar homes can afford to get them fixed.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 10, 2020 6:15:36 GMT
Flipping 101 season finale
Another idiot who buys a $920,000 property has $330,000 to spend on the renovation, does not have any architectural plans, does not have general contractor, and goes missing in action, somehow shows up finishes the project with many mistakes and manages to get a profit of over $720,000. There is something wrong with this.
She should have left some of the trees up.
Tarek proposes.
It is a bit weird to see Tarek's new girlfriend, now fiance, who has been living with him for a while. She is a Christina clone but without the screechy voice.
Tarek did have an interview with People Magazine and later one of the reporters felt he had made a couple of shady comments that were a stab at Christina his ex-wife. Well, considering that Christina took many stabs at Tarek during their Flip or Flop show and on Christina on the Coast especially about her relationship with her boyfriend then husband Ant Anstead, I kinda figured Tarek deserved a couple of potshots.
The new season of Flip or Flop will be starting soon.
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Post by Kao on Oct 11, 2020 4:38:44 GMT
Reddit is a mess; it can't all be "fake reality TV" when folks are getting sued over it. Also, the couple who are suing Alison over the shoddy job done on their house are suing again to block Alison from selling her house; they are claiming that she wants to liquidate her assets and hide her money. Interesting how they are just suing Alison; I think that since she is the "face" of WCR they are assuming that HGTV pays her a wad of money. Hmmm... I have to say I'm really enjoying Selling the Big Easy (even though it's like "House Hunters....but with upscale NOLA properties!"). The host is a delight, and I absolutely love the diversity and beauty of the housing stock that is seen on the show. I know she caters to a more upscale market but the details in the houses are wonderful. Considering how so many shows on HGTV cater to the suburban market it's really nice to see shows with a city locale because we watch HGTV too! That's why I will continue to support this show along with Windy City Rehab. I think Alison is trying to support her business the constant suing and legal fees are not helping. Seriously folks who can afford 1 million dollar homes can afford to get them fixed. On the one hand, if you're buying a multi-million dollar rehabbed house it should be in prime condition so I understand why they are pissed. On the other hand, Alison, Donovan, and their lawyers have all tried mediation to work things out twice with this couple and have been shot down every time. I'm not sure of the details because mediation is private but that along with their recent lawsuit makes me smell grift and someone using a bad situation as a way to get over.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 11, 2020 13:32:06 GMT
I think Alison is trying to support her business the constant suing and legal fees are not helping. Seriously folks who can afford 1 million dollar homes can afford to get them fixed. On the one hand, if you're buying a multi-million dollar rehabbed house it should be in prime condition so I understand why they are pissed. On the other hand, Alison, Donovan, and their lawyers have all tried mediation to work things out twice with this couple and have been shot down every time. I'm not sure of the details because mediation is private but that along with their recent lawsuit makes me smell grift and someone using a bad situation as a way to get over. You mean the homeowners are trying to get more money or something out of Alison??? and Donovan???
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 11, 2020 13:35:03 GMT
Reddit is a mess; it can't all be "fake reality TV" when folks are getting sued over it. Also, the couple who are suing Alison over the shoddy job done on their house are suing again to block Alison from selling her house; they are claiming that she wants to liquidate her assets and hide her money. Interesting how they are just suing Alison; I think that since she is the "face" of WCR they are assuming that HGTV pays her a wad of money. Hmmm... I have to say I'm really enjoying Selling the Big Easy (even though it's like "House Hunters....but with upscale NOLA properties!"). The host is a delight, and I absolutely love the diversity and beauty of the housing stock that is seen on the show. I know she caters to a more upscale market but the details in these older houses (and the differences in the "French" style in the French Quarter and the "American" style in the Garden District) are wonderful. Considering how so many shows on HGTV cater to the suburban market it's really nice to see shows with a city locale because we watch HGTV too! That's why I will continue to support this show along with Windy City Rehab. For all of the Reddit folks who are claiming this situation is fake reality TV and Alison should split from Donovan, I hope they realize that Alison and Donovan parted ways a year ago and we are just seeing that on the show. It's not happening now it.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 11, 2020 13:40:11 GMT
I am really enjoying Honey I Wrecked the House and the condensed Hidden Potential episodes. I am really starting to like Jasmine Roth's design style. I do like it is not all one note. I mean she does have items she reuses, the front porch, the dutch door, but over all I like what she does.
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Post by Kao on Oct 11, 2020 15:39:33 GMT
On the one hand, if you're buying a multi-million dollar rehabbed house it should be in prime condition so I understand why they are pissed. On the other hand, Alison, Donovan, and their lawyers have all tried mediation to work things out twice with this couple and have been shot down every time. I'm not sure of the details because mediation is private but that along with their recent lawsuit makes me smell grift and someone using a bad situation as a way to get over. You mean the homeowners are trying to get more money or something out of Alison??? and Donovan??? Exactly. Mediation is private, but word around the Chicago campfire is saying that Victoria and Donovan offered solutions that any reasonable homeowner would take and the homeowners were like nah; they wanted everything fixed + a lot of extra money for their "inconvenience." A and D's team was like "Nope" and talks broke down. They tried again and the same thing happened. The couple seems to be really fixated on getting some monetary gain from this.
I love Jasmin Roth and Hidden Potential. So many houses look alike in suburban enclaves so I like what she does to make them stand out. She's also just a real blast of fresh air and a total sweetheart; she has that laid-back easy breezy California attitude and is great with the clients.
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Post by Arielflies on Oct 11, 2020 20:21:42 GMT
I caught one of her shows and realized she works in the next town over - Huntington Beach, CA. I keep meaning to watch more, but I keep missing.
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Post by Bearcata on Oct 14, 2020 17:15:54 GMT
Windy City Rehab - Season 2 Episode 5 - "Alison's Aftermath" or "Holding It Together" - October 13, 2020
Note: the title of the episode is confusing as the TV guide says it is "Alison's Aftermath" and HGTV calls it "Holding it Together".
Well the season 2 finale is done.
Regardless of all the drama, Alison does a fabulous job of renovating the 3 flat building and making it a very nice space. Does her ego and self confidence (some say overconfidence) about her design get to be a bit much, well yes, but she produces a nice product. It is very obvious she is passionate about what she does and yes she does it well. She has picked a great team unfortunately it only takes one person not doing a good job in this business to totally mess it up. It was interesting to note the one lawyer was almost telling her to give up on finding out about what happened to the money. I think she needs to hire a forensic accountant and have access to Donovan's books. Will that ever happen I don't know. At this point we all know a lot of money went into Donovan's BE Custom Designs.
What I like is that even when you decide to split with a business partnership it is not that easy, and looks as if this one took at least a year and a half. The question is will Donovan ever reimburse anyone?
I must say that I liked seeing how Alison took her vision of stained glass windows and doors and put them together. Thanks to Arri the powder room doors look fabulous.
I always thought the prices and rent were a bit high, but after watching a House Hunters yesterday about a couple looking a t townhouses and condos in Chicago that all cost about 1.3 million in comparison what they get with one of Alison's homes is a bargain and a lot more space.
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